§5.4(4) ἔτι δὲ δὴ καὶ προσθείης ὅτι, ἐπειδὴ τάχιστα ἀφικόμεθα εἰς Μακεδονίαν, ὀλίγαις ὕστερον ἡμέραις τεσσαράκοντα τάλαντα ἀργυρίου διδόντος Ἀρχελάου καὶ ἀγανακτοῦντος ὅτι οὐ λαμβάνοιμεν, ἀντέσχομεν μὴ λαβεῖν, τῶν δὲ ἄλλων δώρων ὁπόσα ἢ Κλίτων ἔδωκεν ἡμῖν ἢ Ἀρχέλαος ἔπεισε λαβεῖν, οὐκ ἔσθ’ ὅ τι ἐνθάδε ὑπολελείμμεθα, ἀλλ’ οἴχονται αὐτὰ φέροντες οἵπερ καὶ ταύτην τὴν ἐπιστολὴν φέρουσιν, ὑμῖν τοῖς αὐτόθι ἑταίροις καὶ ἐπιτηδείοις νεμήσοντες ἅπαντα.
(4) And indeed you should also add that, as soon as we arrived in Macedonia, a few days later, when Archelaus offered forty talents of silver and was annoyed because we would not take them, we persisted in not taking them; and of the other gifts, as many as Cliton gave us or Archelaus persuaded us to receive, there is nothing that we have left behind here, but those who are carrying this very letter are gone carrying them, intending to distribute them all to you, our companions and friends there.
τίς δ’ ἂν οὕτως εὑρεθείη ἔτι σκαιὸς καὶ βάσκανος τὸν τρόπον, ὅστις ἂν φιλοχρηματίᾳ με θελχθέντα ταύτην ἀποδημῇσαι ὑπολάβοι τὴν ἀποδημίαν;
Who indeed would be found so clumsy and malicious in character as to assume that I, charmed by love of money, undertook this journey?
ἀλλὰ δήπου ἀλαζονείαν τινὰ ἢ τοῦ δύνασθαί τι μέγα ἐπιθυμίαν ἐροῦσιν.
But they will surely speak of some vanity or a desire to be able to do something great.
§5.5(5) ἀλλ’ ἡ μὲν δύναμις ἡμῖν καὶ μένουσιν Ἀθήνησιν ἡ παρὰ Ἀρχελάου καὶ πάλαι ἦν, ἄλλως τε καὶ Κλίτων οὐ τοσοῦτον ἐδύνατο μέγα τοῦ μὴ ἄλλον ἢ ὃν προῃρούμην ἐξ ἀρχῆς τρόπον βιοῦν ἐμέ, μηδ’ ὅπου μὴ ἐθέλοιμι ἀποθανεῖν, τελευταῖον δὲ καὶ παρέχειν λόγους ἐσαεὶ τοῖς κακῶς βουλομένοις ἡμᾶς λέγειν.
(5) But as for influence from Archelaus, it was ours long ago, even while we remained in Athens; especially since Cliton was not so powerful as to prevent me from living in any other way than that which I had chosen from the beginning, nor from dying where I did not wish, and finally, from providing forever matters of talk to those who wish to speak ill of us.
εἰ δὲ δὴ καὶ δυνάμεώς τινος ὠρέχθημεν, τί ἄλλο ταύτῃ τῇ δυνάμει ἢ πρῶτον μὲν εἰς τὰ τῆς πόλεως, ἔπειτα εἰς τὰ τῶν φίλων χρήσεσθαι ἐμέλλομεν ἀλαζονείας τε ἕνεκα πολὺ ἂν μᾶλλον ἐν ὄψει τῶν τε φίλων καὶ οὐχ ἥκιστα τῶν ἐχθρῶν δύνασθαί τι ἐβουλόμεθα.
And if indeed we did desire some power, for what else were we going to use this power than first for the affairs of the city, and then for those of our friends? And for the sake of vanity, we would have wished much more to have power in the sight of our friends and not least of our enemies.
καὶ μὴν εὐμετάβολόν γέ με οὔτε εἰς τὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα οὕτε εἰς ὑμᾶς τοὺς φίλους καὶ οὐχ ἦσσον εἰς τοὺς ἐχθροὺς σκοπῶν εἴποι τις ἄν, οἷς ἅπασιν ἐκ νέου μέχρι τοῦ νῦν τοῖς αὐτοῖς τοῖς κέχρημαι πλὴν ἑνὸς ἀνδρός, Σοφοκλέους· πρὸς γὰρ δὴ τοῦτον μόνον ἱσασί με τάχα οὐχ ὁμοίως ἀεὶ τὴν γνώμην ἔχοντα.
Indeed, looking at my practices, or at you my friends, and no less at my enemies, one would not say that I am fickle, toward all of whom from youth until now I have maintained the same relations, except for one man, Sophocles; for toward him alone they know that I was perhaps not always of the same mind.
§5.6(6) ὃν ἐγὼ ἐμίσησα μὲν οὐδέποτε ἐθαύμασα δὲ ἀεί, ἔστερξα δ’ οὐχ ὁμοίως ἀεί, ἀλλὰ φιλοτιμότερον μέν τινα εἶναί ποτε δόξας ὑπεῖδον, βουληθέντα δὲ διαλύσασθαι τὰ νείκη προθυμότατα ὑπεδεξάμην.
(6) Whom I indeed never hated but always admired, though I did not always love him in the same way; but once thinking him to be somewhat too ambitious, I was suspicious, but when he wished to settle our disputes, I welcomed him most eagerly.
καὶ ἀλλήλους μέν, ἐξ ὅτου συνέβη, στέργομέν τε καὶ στέρξομεν, τοὺς δ’ ἐμβάλλοντας ἡμῖν πολλάκις τὰς ὑπονοίας εἶναι ἐκ τοῦ ἡμᾶς ἀπεχθάνεσθαι τὸν ἕτερον θεραπεύοντες, ἄν τι πλείων ἔχωσι, διαβεβλήμεθα.
And indeed we love and will love each other ever since that happened, but those who often plant suspicions in us, cultivating the one to make us hostile to the other, if they gain anything more by it, we are at variance with them.
καὶ νῦν, ὦ βέλτιστε Κηφισοφῶν, οἶδ’ ὅτι οὗτοί εἰσιν οἱ τοὺς περὶ ἡμῶν λόγους ἐμβάλλοντες εἰς τοὺς ὄχλους· ἀλλ’ ὥσπερ ἀεὶ ἄπρακτοι αὐτῶν αἱ κακαὶ γλῶσσαι ἐγένοντο καὶ γέλωτα ἐξ αὐτῶν καὶ μῖσος, οὐδὲν πλέον, ὠφλίσκανον, καὶ νῦν ἴσθι ὅτι οὐκ ἄπρακτοι μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπὶ κακῷ σφίσιν ἔσονται.
And now, O best Kephisophon, I know that these are the ones who inject the talk about us into the crowds; but just as their evil tongues have always been ineffective and won them laughter and hatred, nothing more, know that now too they will be not only ineffective but also to their own harm.
σὺ μέντοι εὖ ποιεῖς περὶ τούτων ἡμῖν γράφων, ἐπειδήπερ οἴει ἡμῖν διαφέρειν· ἀλλ’ ὥσπερ εὖ ποιεῖς γράφων, οὕτως ἀδικεῖν σε φήσαιμ’ ἂν ἡμᾶς ἀντιλέγοντα ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν τοῖς οὐκ ἀξίοις.
You indeed do well in writing to us about these things, since you think it matters to us; but just as you do well in writing, so I would say you wrong us if you speak in reply on our behalf to those who are unworthy.